A silicone device made in Brazil is used with success to treat urinary incontinence

A silicone device made in Brazil is being used with success in the treatment of patients suffering from urinary incontinence.

The person responsible for the application of the Inflatable Periurethral Constrictor, as the product is called, is urologist João Luiz Schiavini, of the Pedro Ernesto Hospital in Rio de Janeiro. Full Member of the Sociedade Brasileira de Urologia (Brazilian Society of Urology) and assistant professor at the UERJ (Rio de Janeiro State University), Schiavini has implanted the device in 20 Brazilian patients and two patients in Italy, all men suffering from incontinence following radical prostatectomy surgery (total removal of the prostate due to cancer). The results were considered quite satisfactory, with 85% of the cases proving successful.

The method for placing the constrictor is simple. The device is implanted around the urethra during a medium-size operation performed under rachianesthesia and lasting 90 minutes on average. Two months after implantation, when the scarring is perfect, the patient returns to have the constrictor activated. This time it will be insufflated by means of an injection of saline solution, compressing the urethra gently to prevent involuntary loss of urine.

The positive response of the patients to placement of the inflatable periurethral constrictor has aroused the interest of the medical community in Brazil and abroad. “We have already been consulted by urologists in Europe and the Middle East interested in learning the technique for implanting the constrictor,” states Schiavini, who enumerates the advantages of using the device.

“Besides the simplicity of its implantation, the cost of the constrictor is lower than the other devices available on the market, which makes the treatment accessible to a greater number of patients,” adds the urologist.

On 30 September 2004, the first national workshop on the theme was held at the Pedro Ernesto Hospital in Rio de Janeiro. During this meeting, the doctor performed two operations - one implantation and the other activation - which were transmitted directly from the surgical center to the amphitheater.

Created by urologist Salvador Villar from Pernambuco, the inflatable periurethral constrictor is made exclusively by SILIMED and indicated for men of any age presenting cases of radical prostatectomy and neurogenic bladder (without neurological function) and for sexually inactive women.